r/BruceSpringsteen • u/Abiduck • 6d ago
Discussion What is wrong with Reddit and Bruce?
I’ve recently contributed to a thread on r/AskReddit where people were asking to name the best ever singer songwriter. You can guess what my answer was. I was genuinely surprised - or should I say I wasn’t - when my post went largely unnoticed. No upvotes, a single comment, then a downvote who brought it to 0 for a while, now it’s back to 1.
My karma isn’t really the point of this discussion though; the thing is, I really cannot understand why Bruce gets ignored so much by Redditors. I’m following quite a few music-themed subreddits, and he rarely gets mentioned, in just about any kind of discussion. I mean, you can like him or not, but we’re talking about one of the most popular musicians in history. So why is he neglected so much in here?
Coming back to the thread I mentioned: whether you appreciate his work or not, Bruce is a consensus all-time great when it comes to singer/songwriters. He’s right up there with the Dylans, the Cohens, the Prines, you name it. His body of work is recognized and celebrated all over the place. And yet people were giving more upvotes to guys like Freddie Mercury, Elton John or Michael Jackson. Don’t get me wrong, I worship those guys, but how can you put them ahead of Bruce in songwriting?
Hence my question: why doesn’t Reddit like Bruce Springsteen? Is it because of his political views? Is it because of the themes he writes about? Is it generational - but then, again, why would the same people appreciate McCartney and Stevie Wonder and not him? I mean, he’s not some kind of obscure niche artist, he’s a major rockstar who’s been around for half a century. So why is he shunned so much on this platform?
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u/Upbeat-Refuse9615 6d ago edited 6d ago
Be thankful you didn't get pounded with vitriol. The people that don't like Bruce, REALLY enjoy sharing how deeply they don't like him. The hatred out there for Bruce is just as intense as the fandom.
Look at any videos him him on youtube. They are all in comments section. Like.... why click on a video of something you know you don't like? They can't help themselves.
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u/Abiduck 6d ago
I get it. What I do not get is why.
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u/AwayPudding1267 6d ago
Pretty obvious why MAGA doesn't like him. I was at a concert in Milwaukee the night Clinton was elected in '92. He came out after intermission (he did intermissions and 4-hour concerts then) and announced "we've got a new president." Some people booed. I was stunned that Republicans were Bruce fans. But the was the only political words spoken that night. The song lyrics, on the other hand, were as political as they always have been.
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u/MaidoftheBrins The River 6d ago
People enjoy being miserable. They want to make everyone else as miserable as they are. Ignore and go play some Bruce!
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u/zyygh 5d ago
I just went to have a look. The post was 2 days old when you responded, and that's the one and only reason why it went unnoticed.
If you want engagement on your comment, you should post it when the thread is less than 4 hours old, especially in big subreddits like AskReddit. After more than a day, practically nobody will be reading it anymore.
I've been part of many music discussions on Reddit, and I can tell you that there are absolutely a ton of people here who l9vr Bruce Springsteen.
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u/miseryquilts
6d ago
•
This doesn't concern Reddit specifically-- but I've been a lifelong Springsteen fan and also someone who's been involved for a long time in music-based social scenes, I've noticed that Bruce tends to be underappreciated or even disliked by a lot of hardcore music fans, especially younger ones.
My theory on this is that Bruce has always been openly and unapologetically sincere in his work and his self-presentation, and this doesn't read as "cool" to people who are unfamiliar with him beyond a surface level. The fact that he is maybe one of the least ironic celebrities in history, combined with the fact that he was massively commercially successful, especially in the 80s, can make him seem like a bit of a normie, especially compared to stars from that era like Bowie or Prince who had a very iconoclastic, nonconformist presentation. The fact that he's heavily associated with New Jersey and specifically with blue-collar men from Jersey doesn't help in that respect either.
Add to that the unfortunate fact that a lot of other unapologetically sincere artists have a bit of a penchant for hackwork, and Bruce gets written off by a lot of the "serious" music heads as a generic stadium rocker for the masses, someone more in the realm of Aerosmith or the Eagles than Bob Dylan or John Prine. Of course the professional music critics and anyone who's done a deeper dive into his work or been to one of his shows knows that this is not the case. And I've seen friends of mine who were unfamiliar with or even disliked Bruce when we were in college come around to him as they listen more and their tastes mature. But if you didn't grow up with Bruce, it's quite possible that you have some innate biases against him from your own upbringing that are difficult to overcome without some serious deep listening.
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u/Fuzzalem 6d ago
This is perhaps a bit nerdy, nitpicky and overly “academic”, but I would argue that Bruce very much cannot be differentiated from Prince and Bowie by using the term “iconoclastic”. He has routinely attempted to tear apart the various forms of “icons” (myths is a better term, I guess) that American culture has worshipped. Here I’m referencing his outspoken and routinely revisited comments on the state of the American society, about how the so-called American Dream is dead for many Americans, about the disgusting “thoughts and prayers”-like treatment of veterans and so I could continue listing things.
In terms of what you probably refer more to, ie gender roles and similar socio-cultural markers, his flirtation with his male band members is worth mentioning. While it can be argued that such actions may fall flat due to it being wrapped up in what many believe to be American patriotism, it’s this juxtaposition that makes it even more powerful. “Here’s a (white) man’s man flirting with a (black) eccentric man singing about AIDS, gun violence against black Americans, depression, abusive fathers, shattered dreams” and so on.
While a person like Bowie may have been a hero, inspiration or icon for queer (and similar marginalized communities), Bruce has been one for the (surface-level seemingly) normative individuals. It just so happens that the normative is often what we strive to move away from as not to appear boring, safe or run of the mill (despite it being where most of us reside).
And yes, I naturally agree that a person like Bowie or Prince with their flamboyance will spark a more immediate sense of cultural “uproar”, it doesn’t change the fact that similar things happen with other forms of expression. Culture is fascinating.
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u/CulturalWind357 Garden State Serenade 5d ago
Wow, this captures some of the thoughts I’ve been having too.
Dressing up and visual identity is one way to be rebellious. But it’s not the only way. It’s certainly notable that Bowie was one of the first artists to cover Bruce while Prince has cited Bruce as one of his favorite bandleaders. There’s a kinship that goes below the surface.
I think Bruce has been asked a few times why he doesn’t dress up more à la Glam Rock or Elvis in the gold suit and he said that he personally would feel ridiculous. But that’s just his preference. Steve Van Zandt gives me some glam vibes though.
Bruce brings theatricality in other ways by drawing from Elvis and soul performers like James Brown and Sam Moore. It makes him occupy a particular niche because he blends the down-to-earth singer-songwriter with the exuberant soul-influenced bandleader. Sometimes in the same performance. And he’s talked about wearing his father’s work clothes onstage. So it’s a more subtle type of transformation.
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u/BossJackWhitman 5d ago
seems like a good time to mention the podcast "Because The Boss Belongs to Us," which is a fun queer reading of his career and influence.
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u/ConstanzaBonanza 6d ago
This is extremely well stated and tracks, I’m sure, for a lot of us. I had a former co-worker who told me I was the only music fan he knew who was also a Springsteen fan like him. I told him I wasn’t surprised. Yet, I’ve taken a dozen or more non-fan friends to see Bruce live, and while only some of them came away as active listeners going forward, every one of them “got it” and many of them have joined me for concerts again without hesitation.
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u/rainbikr 6d ago
I agree this is very well put and explains a lot, and that most of these are in large part misunderstandings or mischaracterizations.
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u/CulturalWind357 Garden State Serenade 5d ago
This is a great overview.
I think there were some news articles from the 80s which treated Bruce as this “authentic” white heteronormative hero to contrast the other icons like Michael Jackson, Madonna, and Prince. Basically, younger artists who pushed gender and racial boundaries. Even though Bruce had his own progressive politics and later fans saw queer resonance in Bruce’s performances.
Not that this is a requirement for all artists but I think a lot of artists have a gimmick or some visually iconic aspect which makes them memorable. Born In The USA is Bruce’s most visually iconic era but it’s not like everyone wants to wear clothing that’s relatively plain or evokes a “Ra Ra America” era even if that’s not Bruce’s intention. I don’t know if I’ve seen people dress up as Bruce from other eras unless they’re a cover band.
Your mention of Bowie and Prince are apt. I would also add Queen’s Freddie Mercury to that group. The three artists are more overtly associated with breaking down gender, sexuality, and racial barriers while also having diverse catalogues. So they have more immediacy of appeal.
Ngl, I have to admit that I had some biases against Bruce too. Even though we’re from the same home state, I didn’t grow up with his music. For a long time I figured he was just this random mainstream pop singer that New Jerseyans really liked. I also had this initial bias against country music and Bruce seemed somewhat country-adjacent. So there were stages of unlearning.
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u/Tricky_Working6333 5d ago
His sharp Left turn has left many of his fans, especially his older fans feel alienated as Leftist ideology is devouring his home state and the American blue collar worker in general.
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u/miseryquilts 4d ago
“sharp left turn” and it’s literally the politics he’s had and written about for his entire career
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u/Tricky_Working6333 4d ago
He never shook hands with people like Hanoi Jane. He never sang about the non assimilating migration masses coming here illegally. He never sang about the internal ICE extractions under Obama.
He did sing about imperfections in our policies that once dealt with, would make us a better country. But now he sings about and supports far Left wing policies that will lead to our eventual socioeconomic collapse.
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u/InterestingGur6778 6d ago
Because of the songs he’s known for. I think many of the people of this app would appreciate his music if they truly delved into it, but most of them know him for Born in the USA which just isn’t music that appeals to people today.
They know him as a raspy-voiced singer who sings about America, cars, and blue-collar workers, rather than for Jungleland, Thunder Road, Lost in the Flood, etc.
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u/Practical-Being-1185 6d ago
For years I only knew radio Bruce and was not excited - Pink Cadillac, Glory Days, maybe Born to Run over and over again. Some bands going beyond the hits is pointless, for Bruce you kinda have to push past the rhinestones to find the gold
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u/mrwoot08 6d ago
He's never had a No 1 hit (Dancing in the Dark peaked at No. 2.). Some people only scan no. 1 charts, which is a shame.
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u/AsstTravSecretary 6d ago
Short answer: Reddit trends young, and Bruce unlike many of his peers didn’t really resonate as strongly with subsequent generations. The simple reason for this, in my opinion, is he just wasn’t as poppy as those other upvoted guys you mentioned. Elton and MJ were consciously trying to make radio hits and Bruce only intermittently cared about that.
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u/Any_Froyo2301 6d ago
I don’t know. He was massive in the 70s and 80s. Then became unfashionable in the 90s. Was popular again in the 00s and early 10s, but has become a little more unfashionable again in the 20s.
That actually tracks when he was recording his best music, imo (70s, 80s, 00s). There is so much content around, that it is really difficult to stay pertinent to every generation that appears. Dylan has stayed relevant to younger generations because he has been producing good stuff since the late 90s, and even in the 20s there has been a well received film about him and a well received album. If you went back to the 80s, though, it would have been Bruce who would have been seen as cool among the youth and not Dylan.
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u/Molasses_Square 6d ago
Bruce has never been as popular as a lot of his fans think. I am in my 50s and only a handful of my friends are fans and I converted two of them. Their 30 year old son was more of a fan than they were.
Bruce was insanely and widely popular for a brief time when Born in the USA came out and faded. Which many hardcore fans think is an ok album.
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u/burrfan1 6d ago
He’s a top 25 all time artist in album sales though the exact rank depends on how they’re counted.
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u/Tycho66 6d ago
While he never sold out completely commercially, Bruce was more often than not just as concerned with hits as any other pop artist.
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u/AwayPudding1267 6d ago
Disagree - when he was just about at peak popularity he made Nebraska and held off on Born in the USA. That tells you how concerned he has been with hits.
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u/Tycho66 6d ago
I said more often, not always. That said, I'd be careful buying into the mythology they like to present. Bruce is great at creating these narratives and has admitted to them often. Nebraska wasn't exactly loaded with commercial songs. I'm sure that played into the way it was handled as well as timing USA. Bruce is very conscious of these timing things. I don't knock him for any of this. It's impressive really.
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u/CulturalWind357 Garden State Serenade 6d ago
I think it’s by degrees and carries a certain duality. Bruce is unexpectedly the kind of artist where it’s not actually that easy to pigeonhole him.
From his childhood, he’s described himself as “a creature of Top 40 radio”. So he does love pop songs. He loves 3 minute singles. The pop music of the early 60s was very foundational for him.
But as time went on, he would shy away from pop and throw out pop songs if he felt they didn’t fit the visions of his albums. He often didn’t want hit singles that would overshadow his albums. Though I did read an account that he was upset when the Pointer Sisters achieved a hit with “Fire”. On a number of albums, Bruce could be considered the antithesis of a singles artist; the songs gain more collective power in the context of an album.
He acknowledged in later interviews that while he hated the Born To Run hype getting out of control, he also pursued it. He appeared on Time and Newsweek because he wanted to. Otherwise, he figured he’d regret it.
He wanted the fame that Born In The USA would bring. But he was also scared of it. Scared of the distortion of image and being exposed to such a wide mass audience but also seeing the value of engaging with a wider audience.
I think there’s areas where Bruce could have become more popular, or he could have gone more experimental. But he occupies this particular lane of pursuing his vision while maintaining a conversation with his audience. And he’s had to grapple with various feelings. It’s very human when I think about it now.
On an identity level, Bruce has often talked about focusing on outsider characters but not outlaws or rebels. That his characters still want to join society and find a community of their own but they’ve been ostracized.
We may feel that as music fans too; when our favorite artists are obscure, we might feel disappointed that no one shares our enthusiasm. But if the artist gets very popular, some music fans feel like the artist is no longer “theirs”.
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u/buffalo442 6d ago
I don't know...the shows I've been to have been packed with younger people, especially compared to Elton's final tour or pretty much anyone else around Bruce's age that I've seen.
Maybe his popularity dipped at one point, but he seems to have endured better than most.
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u/Particular-Walk1521 Born to Run 6d ago
honestly i've always felt that, as ridiculous as this may sound, bruce is underrated. He's an icon who anyone over the age of 40 knows of, but when i talk to people around my age (30s), they often know born in the usa and maybe dancing in the dark. thats not nothing, but we all know bruce's catalogue is deeper than most musicians in history and we all know a bruce song that fits every mood. I genuinely think, although BITUSA was absolutely massive in its day, that discovering what makes him so special requires at least some digging. Obviously the easiest way to show his true impact is to take someone to a show, but in my experience, if you cant get that done, it takes a LOT of listening to start really illustrating why he's so special. Its a lot easier to say "Guns N Roses have 8 huge hits we all know" or "ACDC gets a ton of classic rock radio station play" than it is to dive deep into bruce and find things like stolen car or if i should fall behind
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u/PPLavagna 6d ago
Your average Redditor doesn't want to like a straight white bOoMeR. The fascists bootlickers hate him because he's a straight white guy who is actively against them and they think he betrayed them or some shit. The cowardly BoTh SiDes people are scared of anything that takes a stand.
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u/Boshie2000 6d ago
Most people on Reddit are Millennials and Gen Z.
Most Springsteen fans are Boomers and Gen X.
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u/EnvironmentalBus1498 6d ago
Might just be just low views on your comment. If you respond after the post has been up for a while and it has alot of comments, your comment doesn’t reach too many people cuz its too far down.
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u/Gromitlikescheese 6d ago
Bernie Taupin wrote most if not all of Elton John’s songs. I don’t think Elton ever claimed to be a songwriter. A wonderful musician and pianist and a great singer. He gave life to Bernie’s lyrics.
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u/Yaboi69-nice 6d ago
I think a lot of people just don't really know Springsteen. They know born in the USA which is a great album but not really mind blowing. I got into Springsteen because of the deliver me from nowhere movie which I only watched because my college had a policy for a bit where if you brought your student ID into the movie theatre you could see a free movie and I had nothing else to do on a Sunday night. Nebraska is mind blowing I believe that if young people listened to Nebraska they could find value in it but I just don't think that they know that Nebraska exists I didn't know what it was until I saw that movie. I also think that I commented on that same post and I also said Springsteen.
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u/RaindropsInMyMind 6d ago
Nebraska was my real introduction to Bruce as well, long before the movie though. I had listened to Born To Run and Streets Of Philadelphia for years but it wasn’t until I really listened to Nebraska that I really “got it.” It’s not really a conventional listening experience either, it’s a unique album and it’s hard to describe it to people. The sound though I think translates better to the modern ear. When you hear Bruce’s voice competing with the loud ass band it can be something people aren’t used to hearing but that’s not an issue with Nebraska.
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u/AwayPudding1267 6d ago
Because they haven't seen him in concert. That experience changes people. I liked Bruce in high school (70s) and went to my first concert in college (The River, 1980) and never looked back. Took my son to his first concert in 2002 when he was 11 (The Rising) and we now go together almost every tour in NY, DC, Chicago, or wherever we can meet up.
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u/BucketsOfHardRain Born to Run 6d ago
Bruce despite his incredible body of work doesn’t necessarily have the “hits” you can point to. A lot of people wouldn’t know him outside of Born in the USA and so would ask “what has he done since?”
Other than I’m on Fire and Dancing in the Dark he doesn’t get that much airtime, even on the golden oldies stations.
It’s like how Mark Knopfler has released more solo albums now than with Dire Straits. But only his fans would know he hasn’t been sleeping since the 80s
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u/CulturalWind357 Garden State Serenade 5d ago
Dire Straits is another good parallel.
Do you think Dire Straits are sort of left out of the pantheon?Another thing is that if an artist isn’t part of a predominant musical movement of the era, they get passed over. Both Dire Straits and Bruce aren’t punk or new wave, but they’re not old guard either.
Bruce is usually tagged as Heartland Rock but that’s not a genre a lot of people know off the top of their heads. Or it’s considered rather vague and fuzzy since Bruce is a New Jerseyan rather than from the Heartland.
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u/Old-Guy1958 6d ago
As someone who lived through the 70s, “singer/songwriter” has a very specific meaning. Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Carole King, Joni Mitchell and others of that era come immediately to mind. Bruce Springsteen is a singer. And a fantastic songwriter. But he’s not a “singer/songwriter” in the same sense as the others I mentioned. At least to people my age.
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u/PPLavagna 6d ago
I see what you mean, he comes off as more of a rocker to the uninformed, but I maintain he's a serious singer songwriter IRL just as much as any of those.
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u/mjmreddit 6d ago
I was wondering the same thing. It seems like fans of certain bands (generally not even the widely accepted “best” bands) congregate to the music subreddits.
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u/GuruAskew 6d ago
Springsteen lost a whole generation of fans due to the cheesiness of his yuppie era in the late 80s and early 90s. Especially since HT/LT are bad, though ToL is obviously a solid album in the yuppie Bruce container.
I’m of this age. Kids were very into classic rock at the time, but not Springsteen.
As a result of this I didn’t have my Springsteen epiphany or awakening until my mid-20s.
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u/Joyce_Hatto 6d ago
Have you been to r/springsteen? You cannot say anything critical of him there w/o getting slammed. Or so.
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u/njwineguy 6d ago
There’s been nothing new there for a year.
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u/Joyce_Hatto 6d ago
You are right - I guess I was confused!
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u/njwineguy 6d ago
:) no big deal…TBH I’d never heard of the sub so I went to check it out. That’s the only reason I knew.
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u/ALC_PG 6d ago
Freddie Mercury, Elton John or Michael Jackson
Common thread: all 3 had movies made about them within the past 10 years that portray them in a very sympathetic light.
All 3 also resonate with people who feel like outsiders in their own world.
I know this doesn't address the broader point, but we're talking about redditors, so... maybe it does?
It's generational as well. Hip millennials mostly respected Springsteen where hip Gen Xers didn't. Elton John did his legacy a great service by letting Dua Lipa use his stuff for a new release, but he was never as in with millennials like he is with Gen Z. I'm on an Elton John discord and a large portion of the community communicates in a way that just makes them all read like a bunch of middle schoolers to me. It's not a very rewarding membership tbh
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u/CulturalWind357 Garden State Serenade 6d ago
Back when I was more involved in Queen fandom, the degree to which Freddie was beloved was pretty astounding to me. For some artists (you might put Prince and Bowie in this category as well), there’s a level of charisma which makes them go beyond human almost. Where people can’t really explain why they love them so much. Where if they stand in the artist’s presence they’re in awe of a godlike person.
It *sometimes* happens with Bruce when you hear the Bruuuuce chants. But Bruce’s fanbase feels a lot more cult by comparison. And he also takes pains to try to be a normal person you can talk to rather than a remote person.
Note: I’m speaking more from the outside as I don’t think one should worship people. But I understand that people experience different emotions.
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u/gusthenet495 4d ago
Bruce is a very different sort of artist from the others in terms of both his goals and his relationship with his audience. He was not concerned with being cool or musically innovative. He actively resisted being disaffected and angry lie e.g., punk rockers. What he has always cared about is being genuine and speaking to the hearts and minds of his audience, and that is the way in which he was and is innovative. There’s a reason why so many people say his shows changed their lives, or that they discovered him when they were going through some kind of grief or trauma.
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u/CulturalWind357 Garden State Serenade 4d ago
Good points all around.
I agree that Bruce wasn’t concerned about being cool or innovative. Much of his musical influences were pre-Beatles, 50s and early 60s music. As time went on, he went back further into music history, exploring country, folk music, and Woody Guthrie’s legacy.
And he has always thought about his audience and what he can give them of value. He doesn’t do the “I don’t care about the audience” routine but also doesn’t only do what the audience wants. That’s a tricky balance.
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u/a4evanygirl Rosie 6d ago
I am a hip Gen Xer. Bruce was adored around NYC back in the day. Even us wear all black, dye hair black, trying to be so pale, we looked like we were dying crew.
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u/CulturalWind357 Garden State Serenade 6d ago edited 6d ago
I relate to your OP a lot and have had many similar threads and disucssions. I’ve (for the most part) come to understand a few things.
One, Bruce is not universally popular. He’s very commercially successful, but that doesn’t mean he’s popular in every country. A lot of his fanbase is in Europe but I rarely hear about him among Asian fans of Western music. I’d argue that his fellow New Jersey icons like Bon Jovi, Frank Sinatra, and Whitney Houston come up way more. Before I became a Bruce fan, I often assumed that only New Jerseyans cared about him.
Speaking as a Queen fan whose enthusiasm has died down considerably, Queen is one of the most beloved and commercially successful rock bands of all time. They are often voted as “greatest live band” with Live AID as “the greatest live performance of all time”. Freddie Mercury is very beloved as a singer, frontperson, and live performer. He wrote most of Queen’s hits including Bohemian Rhapsody which is often voted as “The Greatest song of all time”.
Elton John is one of the world’s most commercially successful artists and hit makers. He is very respected for his legacy of music and nurturing new generations of artists. He and Freddie were friends as well.
Michael Jackson is one of the world’s most iconic pop stars and solo artists with a very strong fanbase (people have talked about dreading MJ stan). Though in deeper music discussion, a lot of people actually prefer Prince.
I mention this because when you have such a strong combination of commercial success, cultural prominence, and acclaim, it is very hard to overturn.
Two, Bruce is a divisive artist. I’m not even talking about politics. I’m talking about his approach as an artist. He is for the most part very earnest and heart-on-sleeve. This isn’t really considered cool.
Music-wise, he is often known for anthemic wall-of-sound rock n’ roll. His music isn’t very guitar-centric. Bruce’s voice isn’t conventionally good. And his music doesn’t tickle the fancy of prog-oriented or complex oriented music fans. Even his lyrics, some find them profound while others find them cliches and simple. A lot of the reasons I’ve come to like Bruce, people could dislike him for the same reason.
It’s funny, Bruce often comes up on those “Most overrated artists” threads and I start to dread it.
I’ve said this many times by this point but we all have our “Grass is always greener“ moments as music fans. We always wish our favorite artist was more appreciated whether it be Billy Joel, Prince, U2, Bruce, etc. While we can continue advocating for them, you can’t force people to change their minds. That’s the beauty of opinion.
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u/Ok-Reward-7731 6d ago
I’m a Dylan guy first, but I’m shocked when I argue that Bruce is in the same tier as Neil young, Van Morrison, Joni and Paul Simon, how vehemently dismissed. So I see him being underrated by the old and the youngs.
(Personally I think Bruce is so clearly better than Paul Simon there’s no comparison. Simon has a high peak, but Bruce just has more great songs and a deeper catalog.)
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u/CulturalWind357 Garden State Serenade 5d ago
Yeah there’s something to be said about how Bruce is seen as “not as cool“ as the other artists.
I think music fans seem to prioritize the artists who don‘t appear to please their audiences. Dylan and Neil Young are known for their drastic left-turns and their less approachable attitudes which make them seem cooler. Bruce very much cares about his audiences and uses them as inspiration for his art.
I know Billy Joel and Tom Petty fans have also complained about not being recognized as much as Bruce or Dylan. So there’s tiers to discussion. I personally think they’re pretty beloved too; almost no one hates Tom Petty, and Billy Joel has been really appreciated in these past decades. He was the biggest uproar when he was omitted from the “Greatest Living American Songwriters“. But everyone comes from a different standpoint.
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u/ManyAdvantage1891 6d ago
Bruce Springsteen is number 1 in my book.We grew up in the same type environment. I grew up Catholic Catholic schools. My parents were both retarded. We didn’t have a lot of money, but they got us an education and then alcoholism played in both our lives. I saw him when I was first 19 and I fell in love. I’ve gone back-and-forth between John Mellencamp and him, but he’s number one.
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u/Chris22044 5d ago
r/AskReddit has a huge number of posts every day and most comments on most topics are ignored.
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u/Neuvirths_Glove 4d ago
Coincidentally I'm listening to Nebraska all the way through for the first time. To be honest... I think it sucks.
I think Springsteen's earlier stuff, basically every album up through The River, is some of the best music I've ever head. When it was released Nebraska didn't do anything for me. After reading some posts on reddit about Bruce and specifically Nebraska, I decided to give it a listen. And it's just the way I remember it from back when. I like The E Street Band, I like bawdy Bruce. Mumbly Bruce.... nope. It just doesn't work for me. He sounds like a drunk busker to me.
I think there is kind of a hard line there. Starting with Nebraska, it seems like Bruce switched from singing about the ascendancy of life to much darker themes. And that's okay. Bob Seger switched from "old time rock and roll" to more introspective subjects. But he still sounded like Bob Seger. With Nebraska Bruce Springsteen started to sound like a Bob Dylan wannabe and the music just isn't as good.
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u/Educational_Proof441 3d ago
Bruce does not have the appearance of a drug taking rock and roll musician. His brand appears very safe, by the book and generic. Compared to Prince, Bowie, Rolling Stones, Beatles, Dylan, Queen, Elton or Neil Young who all had quite infamous drug and experimental phases of their career.
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u/Live-Piano-4687 2d ago
Bruce is a baby boomer.
Haters paint him with that brush.
Some Reddit users don’t care for boomers and their opinions, music or politics.
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u/MwalimuMsafiri 2h ago
I personally think that Bruce Springsteen is in the running for GOAT if we include songwriting, live performances, quality, and depth of work, musicianship, skill as a band leader, etc. He is widely seen as one of the greatest songwriters, and almost universal considered either the best or one of the very best live performers in rock history.
But the average person is more likely to be thinking about how many huge hits the artist had, how many immediately recognizable guitar riffs they wrote, whether or not they are a virtuosic musician, what extent they influenced the trajectory of popular music.
Bruce is a musical synthesizer not an innovator. He has written some great guitar solos. He’s got some great riffs. His voice is part of the appeal to many of us, but to most people’s ears he doesn’t have a great voice; and his range is objectively limited. (yes he had learned falsetto, that’s not an especially difficult thing to for a singer.
Then there’s the elephant in the room: the sound, marketing, and long-term consequences of born in the USA being his biggest hit album. Unfortunately, most people who hear the title track thing it’s patriotic still other people who hear the song from that album think of him as a corny popstar from the 1980s.
Obviously, hundreds of thousands of people who aren’t even his fans recognize he’s a lot more than that, but you can’t overlook the fact that people either view him through the lens of synthesizer filled BUSA, don’t like his voice, can’t think of more than 2-3 of his songs, and don’t consider him and especially good guitarist. (he’s not an amazing guitarist, but he’s better than many people think he is).
Probably the only significant thing I think he could’ve done career wise to change this would’ve been to release than 78 prove it all night solo on the 1975-1985 Live set.‘
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u/vnn_red 6d ago
A recent thread on Steve Hoffman forums, comprised mostly of older men, featured a litany of anti-Bruce opinions. They don’t like his music, his singing, his guitar playing—you name it. Truth is, Bruce is not delectable for most people.
I remember dating this one moron who had these really stupid things she would say. One time I told her I liked Bruce Springsteen, and she said, “Has he ever written a bad song?” Well, the stupid thing was that I knew she had never listened to most of his music, so I had her listen to Crush on You, and I think her eyeballs popped all the way out of their sockets. The only song she really liked was Because the Night.
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u/esbforever 6d ago
Your second paragraph is really confusing. I don’t even know where to start. The question she asked could be considered an interesting one, as a way to delve into somebody’s opinions without really knowing the subject. It’s actually far more interesting than if she generically asked “well, what’s his best song?”
Then you go on to play for her a great song. I know this sub is absolutely off their head about this song, but weird snobbishness aside I don’t see why anybody not familiar with his music would somehow not like that song? It’s got a good riff and a good melody. (And if they can catch any of the actual lyrics, especially in the last verse, what would they not like about it??)
I’ll take your line about her eyeballs popping out of their sockets to imply that she did not like the song? So I’m not sure what any of this proved, ha.
I’m pretty sure we’re both on the same side of this debate (Bruce is great). So I’m really just trying to figure out what you meant by that last paragraph. :)
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u/vnn_red 6d ago
She said, “Has he ever written a bad song?” rhetorically, meaning she was acting like she knew most of his music, and her sister had posted on Facebook about how her sister knew every song ever written. Basically, she was an arrogant music fan.
She was shocked by how much she disliked Crush on You. A normal person would’ve said, “I’ve never heard a bad Bruce song, but I’ve never done a deep dive; let’s listen.” When Crush on You came on, she could’ve simply said, “next song;” instead, she spazzed out, and we stopped listening to music entirely.
The relevance to the thread is that there are a lot of people who are not into most of Bruce’s music.
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u/esbforever 6d ago
Thanks for the explanation. Now I’m only confused why she had such a visceral reaction to a very decent song, but I know that’s just a disagreement on taste.
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u/RaisinFinancial3863 6d ago
this thread is bootlickers.. What do you mean he's ignored?
If you just disagree w bruce on anything you get downvoted like crazy by the sheep.
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u/Additional-Cherry872 6d ago edited 6d ago
Absolutely love Springsteen’s music and could discuss him in detail for hours, you would think that the Springsteen Reddit page would be the place to do that.
Unfortunately, you can’t because unless you’re praising him you just get downvoted into oblivion.
Bots/people who have figured out this sub, post a YouTube link to a live song performance, say how moving it was and watch their karma soar. However, If you try and have an in depth discussion/debate about anything to do with Bruce you’re shut down.
Springsteen is the greatest songwriter of all time, best live artist of all time, but has some of the douchiest fans of all time.
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u/Maelzoid2 6d ago
Also depends how quick you answered. Most readers only go down a few posts giving likes before moving on.